


Heal an Icy Heart

by KenjithePanda



Category: Paladins: Champions Of The Realm (Video Game)
Genre: Androxus is insecure, F/M, Fluff, Mentioned that Koga is dating Furia, Skye is a jerk, Valera pops up once, it's winter
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-10
Updated: 2020-11-10
Packaged: 2021-03-08 23:08:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,015
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27494725
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KenjithePanda/pseuds/KenjithePanda
Summary: Koga and Ying are leisurely enjoying a day at the market. They see Androxus and Skye talking, then quickly warn the Paladins about what they heard. Ying begins to feel conflicted so she takes a stroll in the woods. Before she realizes, the tears have fallen just as quickly as the snow. Will Androxus be too late to save her from the cold's embrace or will his heart freeze too?
Relationships: Androxus/Ying (Paladins)
Kudos: 8





	Heal an Icy Heart

Koga yawned as he looked over his shoulder. Ying was taking her sweet time looking at all of the miscellaneous trinkets aligned on the stand. He had been assigned to guard the fragile healer after she’d begged to go to the market. Valera should’ve just made all of the female Paladins go. Koga had no interest in following around some woman he had a bad history with.

Nonetheless, he was grateful that he was welcomed into the group as family. Ying hadn’t told anyone about their past in the Thousand Hands guild so he decided that it would be fair to follow orders and keep her safe.

“Koga, come look! Isn’t this pretty?” Ying yipped as she held up a multicolor mirror. 

“Yeah, it’s cool, I guess.” Koga yawned again and adjusted his mask.

Ying raised an eyebrow. She didn’t want to be a burden to the ninja. Maybe some small talk would help lighten the mood.

“So… I heard you and Furia are dating.” Ying mumbled as she fingered her mirror. “Sorry, they’re just rumors, right?”

Koga looked up in surprise. “Who told you that? Agh, there’s no use in hiding it. Just don’t tell anyone else or Furia will get mad at me. Never knew how terrifying angels could be until recently.”

“Oh, wow!” Ying’s face brightened at Koga opening up to her. “It’s only fair that I tell you about my favorite person.” She suddenly flushed.

The ninja noticed her embarrassed expression. “Well, who is it? Let me guess, Sha Lin?”

“No, he’s my best friend. It’s just…” Ying held her mirror to her chest with a solemn look. She sighed. “We haven’t talked in a while. I think he’s been avoiding me ever since I saw his face.”

“Since you saw his face?” Koga ran his hand through his hair. It had been a while since he last tried helping anyone other than himself. “No guy in the Paladins wears a mask besides me. And I wouldn’t really care if you saw my face.”

“He’s not in the Paladins. His name is — ”

“ — Androxus, where have you been all these years? Do you know how much of Karne’s whining I had to put up with because he lost one of his best judges? And don’t get me started on Lex,” said a female voice.

Both Ying and Koga froze in shock, but for different reasons. The duo standing only a few yards away from them was Skye and Androxus. With hundreds of apologies at the tip of her tongue, Ying tried running to Androxus’s side but Koga quickly pulled her out of sight. He gestured to stay quiet and observe the scene in front of them. When Ying glanced at Koga she noticed that his brows were furrowed as if he was angry. His hands were also grasping at his smgs hidden underneath his clothes. He was glaring at Skye.

Skye stood with an irritated expression. Androxus also seemed annoyed judging by his body language. He sighed. “What do you want? I have better things to do than answer your pointless questions.” 

Skye folded her arms and stood in his path. “Hey, I’m trying to help you here! And that’s not something I usually do. There’s obviously something wrong with you. If you’d just come back to the Magistrate one of our many healers could somehow heal you.”

“The last thing I want is help from you.” Androxus walked past her.

Skye scowled then a devilish smile appeared on her face. “I think you’ve forgotten something about me when you were MIA. I see  _ everything _ . Including that elf from the Paladins you used to hang out with. What happened with you and her?” 

That caught Ying’s ear. Could they be talking about her? She listened with greater interest, curious about what Androxus thought of her.

Androxus turned on Skye. His green eyes were glowing violently through his mask. He let his hand fall onto the hilt of his revolver, openly letting her see that he was prepared to kill her at any second.

“You don’t know what you’re talking about. I’ve gone nowhere near the Paladins,” he hissed.

Skye walked in circles around Androxus. She suddenly hugged him from behind and whispered in an arrogant tone, “Oh? So it’s fine if I just sneak into their camp and kill the girl who goes by Ying?”

In less than a second Androxus drew his revolver and fired at where Skye was, but only to see that he fired at empty air. She was gone. Androxus cursed then hurried away in a specific direction.

Ying immediately jumped up and chased after him but was once again stopped by Koga.

“Let me go! Can’t you see that he’s in trouble?” Ying yelled at him.

“What, are you insane? Don’t you remember Skye and how dangerous she is? I can’t just let you go running off, especially when she mentioned trying to hunt you down. She might still be here watching the area. Let’s go.”

“I can’t just abandon him!”

“He looked like he can handle himself. I’m your bodyguard right now and it’ll be hard protecting you if we run straight into the danger. Come on! It’s not safe here. Let’s tell everyone about what happened so we can all avoid this area.”

Ying worriedly looked at where Androxus had run off to. Koga was probably right. Androxus could handle himself, right?

“Okay… let’s go home.”

\---

“You mean the Skye from the Magistrate threatened Ying?” Valera asked.

“Indirectly, but yes. There was another person too but he’s Ying’s  _ friend _ ,” Koga said in a disbelieving tone.

After answering a bunch of questions on the entire event, Ying went up to her room in the female Paladins house. She was irritated but she didn’t know why. She thought about what Androxus had said. 

_ I’ve gone nowhere near the Paladins. _

Could he have forgotten about her? Did he hate her because she saw his face? Or was he lying to protect her? The thought of never talking to Androxus again made her stomach hurt. The fact that her room was under total security didn’t help either. She felt trapped, but the atmosphere in the meeting room was suffocating. The Paladins always went under high protocol because healers were rare and losing one would be a huge loss.

Just a quick breath outside would help immensely. Ying would be fast, not giving any potential danger the chance to hurt her.

She glanced at the ground below through her window. There were three guards. She created a clone hidden in the nearby treeline of the forest then swapped places with it. This way, if anyone came into her room they’d see a clone and think it was her. At least for a few minutes.

Ying settled against the trunk of a tree in a clearing. She shivered. Winter was beginning to take over the weather and she had forgotten her coat. She didn’t want to go back to the Paladins yet. It was as if the icy weather was creeping into her heart. Ying felt lonely and abandoned.

She summoned a clone to hug her. Anything to make these selfish emotions disappear. She let her clone disperse into smoke when she realized that it wasn’t real and was just as cold as the wind.

Everyone in the Paladins had their special someone. Even Koga, one of the most antisocial guys. She was always on the sidelines cheering them on and giving them her best wishes. Why couldn’t she have someone to snuggle with and make the bitter cold go away? Why did he have to leave her without saying goodbye? 

A single tear fell down her cheek as she fell fast asleep. She never noticed the growing layers of snow around her.

\---

Androxus hurried against the snow towards the Paladins camp. He doubted that Skye would do anything but he still worried. Fear gripped his heart. If he were to see Ying lifeless and cold he’d…

No. Ying was fine. He was just going to check on her then make sure to hunt Skye down.

He suddenly questioned himself. He was going out of his way to protect a girl who probably hated him. He’d been avoiding her since she accidentally saw his face for her sake. He, a monster, didn’t deserve to be her friend. Staying near her would only make her afraid. Yet the need to see her had always tugged at him.

Androxus continued on his path. He found the female Paladins house near the edge of a forest. In a quick dash, he flew up to Ying’s window. After Androxus saw her lying peacefully on her bed, he turned to leave, then noticed something strange. Wisps of smoke were drifting away from Ying’s body.

He had no idea what it was. Ying seemed to be asleep so he carefully opened her window and crept inside. Androxus looked closer at her. It was as if her body was evaporating. He then realized that it wasn’t Ying, but one of her illusions.

Wild thoughts pierced through Androxus’s mind. Why was Ying pretending to be asleep? Had Skye gotten here before he had and forced her to make the clone? Where could she have gone? Was Ying… already dead?

He began frantically looking around then noticed a trail of footsteps at the edge of the forest. Because of the falling snow, they were barely visible. He didn’t have much time.

Androxus urgently raced through the forest. He jumped over fallen logs and rocks. The chill crept into his clothes and made him shiver to his core. The cold had never bothered him, but the circumstances of today worsened his toleration.

What Androxus saw made him stop dead in his tracks. His breathing ceased. His heart turned to ice as he fearfully approached the small curled up figure. 

All of his horrors came true. It was Ying. When he reluctantly held her hand, he clenched his fists. Her body was so cold. Androxus pulled her out of the snow and held her to his chest. She was just sleeping, right? He begged her to wake up but was only met with silence.

It was all his fault. If he had been faster. If he had killed Skye. If he’d never left her. If he protected her.

This would’ve never happened. 

He tore off his mask and let the tears stream down his face. He wept silently with her fragile body in his arms. Then Androxus noticed something. A weak heartbeat thumped against his chest, but it wasn’t his. It was… Ying’s! When he looked at her face he saw her struggling to breathe. Her eyes opened weakly then widened when she saw Androxus.

“A-Andy…?” she whispered. The harsh whip of the wind threatened to take away her voice, but Androxus shielded her from the cold with his body. 

Hope fluttered in his heart. “Ying, I’m here. Are you alright? Speak to me, please..!”

Ying looked up at Androxus. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to see your face… I just wanted to surprise you. Will you forgive me?”

“You have nothing to be sorry for! I’m the reason why all of this happened… I was insecure. I’m sorry.”

“So you didn’t forget about me?” Ying cried as tears ran down her face.

“Of course not. I could never forget you.”

“Good… You know, you’re not wearing your mask.”

Androxus looked away as a blush crept onto his face. “I’m ugly, aren’t I?”

“No. You’re actually quite handsome!” Ying giggled.

Androxus stood up with Ying in his arms. “Alright, let’s get you back to the Paladins. You’ll catch a cold if you stay out here any longer,” he said.

As they started towards the Paladins, Ying lifted her veil and pecked Androxus on the cheek. The tips of his ears reddened.

Ying smiled. “Because  _ you’re  _ my special someone.”

Surprised, Androxus stuttered, “A-And does that make you mine?”

“Of course, silly. Just don’t go running off or I’ll get worried.”

With warmth in his heart, Androxus held her tighter. “Wouldn’t dream of it.”


End file.
